Circuit-closing device.



No. 746,604; PATENTED DEC. s, 1903. 0. B. THOMPSON & W. G. MIDGLEY.

CIRCUIT CLOSING DEVICE.

APPLICATION FILED JUNE 22, 1901.

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PATENTED DEC. 8, 1903.. G. MIDGLEY.

0. B. THOMPSON & W.

CIRCUIT CLOSING DEVICE.

APPLICATION FILED JUNE 22, 1901.

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No. 746,604. PATENTED DEC. 8, 1903.. O. B. THOMPSON & W. G. MIDGLEY.

CIRCUIT CLOSING DEVICE.

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Witnesses, W Inventors (D x 2 Attorney UNITED STATES Patented December8, 1903.

PATENT OEEIcE.

OLIVER B. THOMPSON AND VVILLIAIVI G. MIDGLEY, OF BUFFALO, NEW YORK.

CIRCUIT-CLOSING DEVICE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent N 0. 746,604, datedDecember 8, 1903.

Application filed June 22, 1901. Serial No. 65,669. (No model.)

To all whmn it may concern.-

Be it known that we, OLIVER B. THOMPSON, a citizen of the United States,and WILLIAM G. MIDGLEY, a subject of the King of Great Britain, bothresiding at Buffalo,in the county of Erie and State of New York, haveinvented certain new and useful Improvements in Circuit-Closing Devices,of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to an improved circuit-closing device chieflyadapted for electric fire-alarms; and the main object of the inventionis to provideacircuit-closing device of improved construction which willbe almost instantly operated either by excessive heat or by flame.

One of the features of the invention relates to the detachability of theoperating mechanism and its support from the casing.

Another feature relates to the improved means for retaining the devicein inoperative position whereby it may be released either by excessiveheat or flame, one part of the retaining means being adapted to meltupon exposure to excessive heat and another part to instantly igniteupon contact with fire.

Another feature relates to the arrangement of the connecting-strip ofquick-igniting material, such as celluloid, upon the walls of a room tocarry the flame to and release the de vice.

It also relates to certain details of construction, all of which will befully and clearly hereinafter described and claimed, reference being hadto the accompanying drawings, in which Figure 1 is a longitudinalcentral section through the casing of my improved circuit closer on linea a, Fig. 2. Fig. 2 is a section on line b b, Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is asection on line a a, Fig. 2, the device being in its circuitclosingposition. Fig. 4 is a bottom plan view of the device. Fig. 5 is alongitudinal central section through the operating mechanism and itssupport, the springs being omitted. Fig. 6 represents abottom plan viewof the top cap of the device. Fig. 7 is a section on line 0 c, Fig. 6,through the top cap. Fig.

Fig. 11 is a detached view of the wire latching device. Fig. 12 is adetached view of the circuit-closing pin. Fig. 13 is a fragment of acelluloid strip with its extension which projects to the celluloid diskof the circuit-closing device. Fig. 14 is a section on lineoc 0:, Fig.13. Fig. 15 is a view of a room or apartment having circuit-closingdevices in position on the wall and a strip of material extending acrosssaid walls.

In referring to the drawings for the details of construction likenumerals designate like parts.

The circuit-closingdevice consists of a housing or casing 1, preferablycircular in form, an upper cap 2, having a circular rim 3, adapted to beinserted in the upper end of the casing and secured in place byset-screws 4 and a bottom cap 5, which has a rim 6, adapted to beinserted and secured in the lower end of the casing by set-screws 7. Therim 6 has an extension 8 at one side, which forms a support for thecircuit-closing pin and its operating mechanism. A block 9 is secured tothe extension 8 by a screw 10 and has two uprights 11 and 12, throughopenings in which the circuit-closing pin 13 slides.

The circuit-closing pin is provided with a sharpened upper end 14 andhas a transverse bar 15 at its lower end.

A wire latching device, bent to substantially the formshown in Fig. 11,is pivoted in an opening in the block 9 and has a locking part 16,adapted to seat in a depression 17, cut in the pin 13, and a crank-arm18, having a hook end 19 inserted in a loop in the upper end of a rod20. This rod 20 extends through a central opening 21 in the lower capand has a screw-threaded lower end, upon which a nipple 22 is secured. Acircular disk L3, of quick-igniting material, such as celluioid, isretained in place by the nipple.

The rod 20 has an intermediate upwardlyextending loop 2a, and the upperupright 11 of the block 9 has a central vertical-extend ing lug 25 andtwo lateral lugs 26, and a spring 27 has its ends passed throughopenings in the loop 24; and the lug 25. Two ad ditional springs 28 arealso arranged one on each side of the pin 13 and are connected at theirends to the ends of the bar 15 and the lateral lugs 26.

The lower cap is provided with a depending portion 29 of annular form,and a wick 30 of similar annular form is detachably fitted in thisportion and has a filling of easilynielted material 31, such asparaffin.

The advantage of having the wick detachable is that itcan be easilyreplaced when damaged or burned.

The filling has a central opening 32, substantially as shown in Fig. 5,for the passage of the rod 20, which is considerably largerincircumference than the rod and of sufficient size to permit the passageof the nipple 22 when the disk 23 is burned. The upper cap has threecontact-strips 33, of thin flexible material, which are arranged in theform of a triangle, each strip being bent upon itself and having theinner bent parts gradually converging toward each other in an upwarddirection. These contact-strips are connected in the usual andwell-known way to the proper wires of the electric system, of which theyform a part.

The advantage of employing a celluloid disk to retain the locking-rod inposition in connection with a wick and easily-melted material is thatthe disk will be almost instantly consumed when ignited by flame,thereby permitting the closer to operate, and the easily-melted materialfurnishes an additional precaution, as the material mightin anexceptional case be melted before the disk was ignited. A strip ofcelluloid 34 is also preferably placed around the walls of the rooms inwhich the device is employed to facilitate and provide means for theoperation of the device by a fire in any portion of the room. This stripis connected directly to the disk or by a short supplementary strip ofcolluloid 35.

When fire startsin the room, it ignites the celluloid strip, whichcarries the flame to the disk, which burns and releases the rod,permitting it to operate the closer.

The principal advantages of this invention are the easy mannerin whichthe pin and its operating mechanism can be removed for repair, thedetachability of the wick and its filling of paraffin, the almostinstantaneous action of the circuit-closing mechanism upon the ignitionof the celluloid disk or melting of the paraffin, and the arrangement ofthe operating mechanism, with the exception of the wick and disk, withina practically dustproof casing.

Another great advantage resides in the arrangement of the strip ofcelluloid around the room or apartment, as fire in any part of theapartment will follow to the circuit-closer and operate the same.

The circuit-closing pin in this improved device is held in inoperativeposition by an easily-melted part and a quick-igniting part, so that itwill be released either by flame or by excessive heat, thereby providingtwo different means for closing the circuit and greatly increasing theefficiency and reliability of the device.

We claim as our invention 1. A circuit-closing device havingacircuitclosing pin, a celluloid part secured to said pin and a wickhaving a paraffin part through which the pin passes and against whichthe celluloid part bears.

2. A circuit-closing device having a circuitclosing mechanism includinga removable wick containing paraffin, a pin passing through the paraffinand a celluloid disk on the pin.

3. A circuit-closing device having circuitclosing mechanism including aremovable wick carrying a filling of easily-melted material.

4. A circuit-closing device havinga circuitclosing pin, and means forretaining the circuit-closing pin in inoperative position having acelluloid part seating against a filling of paraffin.

5. A circuit-closing mechanism having one or more circuit-closingdevicesprovided with a spring-tensioned circuit-closing pin, a celluloid parton said pin, a wick having a paraffin part through which the pin passesand against which the celluloid part bears and a strip of celluloid onthe wall of a room operatively arranged with respect to the celluloidpart of the circuit-closing devices, whereby a circuit-closing devicemay be operated by melting the paraffin through excessive heat or byignition of the celluloid strip.

6. A circuit-closing device having a casing, a cap secured to saidcasing, a block having support from said cap, a circuit-closing pinslidably mounted in the block and having a depression,a latching devicepivotally mounted in the block and having a locking part seating in thedepression in the pin and an arm, a locking-rod having connection withthe arm of the latching device, a spring connected to the block andlocking-rod and springs connected to the circuit-closing pin and block,substantially as set forth.

7. A circuit-closing device having a casing, a cap detachably secured tosaid casing l1aving an extension, a block on said extension, acircuit-closing pin slid-ably mounted in the block and having adepression, a latching device pivotally mounted in the block and havinga locking part seating in the depression in the pin and an arm, alocking-rod having connection with the arm of the latching device, adisk of celluloid mounted on said rod, a spring connected to the blockand lockingrod and springs connected to the circuit-closing pin andblock, substantially as set forth.

OLIVER B. THOMPSON. WILLIAM G. MIDGLEY.

Witnesses:

L. M. SANGSTER, GEO. A. NEULAUER.

